Kafui Ayetor Agbetor,
proud seed of the Volta Kingdom
Mighty root of
an unshakeable oak tree
Remnant of an
undefeated lineage,
I have come a
long way!
I have wrestled
I have fought,
I have seen cities crumble, at the tip of my
sword.
A million times
have my hands been raised at the Market square,
As a mighty wrestler
of untamed lions…
Unprecedented owner
of a hundred and one medallions
Makafui Ayetor
Agbetor! The hard nut the sages could not crack!!
But little did I know that I was a caged man.
Caged in my own
mentality about the Asian!
Bound by the lie
that that Africa has nothing to do with Asia.
That Asia was a strange place for an African...
My mind was a a
rusty, leaking roof,
A dilapidated summer hut,
That needed
renovation...
Wang Ying,
You brought into
my life the refreshing touch of revolution,
You are to me,
that spice of variety
That cannot be
found on the Anlo market.
Just a “Ni hao”, just a “Ni hao”, you said
And my whole mind was tuned
onto a world of
awesome possibilities !
Wang Ying,
You gave me back
the sight
That I had
obviously lost
From wearing the
mask of self-pride and pomposity.
I thought I had seen it all,
Till I climbed
the Great Wall of China,
Till i saw you
sitting elegantly in your "Qipao"
Then I realised
That Asia was indeed
beautiful, adorable,
And that the
greatest battle a man could fight
Was within the
confines of his own mind,
The greatest
proof of a man’s strength
Is seen in the
barriers he breaks in his mind.
So Wang Ying,
speak to me again in your “Putong hua”,
That language is
melody in my ears
And I will
respond in Ewe, “Akpe, Akpe Akpe!”
Sing to me your
“Tian mi mi…”
And I will
respond in Ewe, “Me lo wo, Me lo wo, Me lo wo ”.
Come with me
home,
Let me show you
to Efo,
And tell the whole
of Eweland that these crescent eyes
Taught me to
step into the unknown,
That the magical
calmness of the Yangtze river,
Taught me to
embrace a different world,
And to find what
the ordinary man cannot find.
Wang Ying…
.....You are my greatest
medallion, my profound discovery.
AfriqAsia GLOSSARY
- Kafui - An Ewe name meaning "Praise Him"
- Wang - A very popular Chinese surname, also a title in Chinese nobility.
- Ying - A unisex name meaning Eagle, crystal or victorious.
- Anlo - A subgroup of the Ewe people inhabiting South Eastern parts of the Volta region of Ghana, southern Togo and southern Benin.
- Ni hao - "Hello" in Chinese.
- Qipao - Traditional Chinese women`s outfit
- Putonghua - Mandarin Chinese, a standardised variety of Chinese., official language of the People`s Republic of China.
- Akpe - "Thank you" in Ewe.
- Tian mi mi - "Your sweet smile" A popular Chinese song by Teresa Teng.
- Me lo wo - I love you in Ewe.
- Efo - Title in Ewe meaning Uncle. Father.
- Yangtze river - Longest river in Asia, and third longest in the world.
